Control
by SouthernStars
Summary: Troy's life had always been black and white, he'd always been in control...until she burst into his life and he felt his control slipping. TxG oneshot!


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters. **

**A/N: The next chapter to 'Out Of My Element' is on its way! Anyway, I had this in my head. It may be a little deep, I needed to write something like this after writing my other two one-shots, which were full of fluff!!**

_**Control**_

Troy climbed the steps to the rooftop and rubbed his hand over his face. God he was tired. Not only physically, but mentally. He was tired of accepting thanks, he was tired of worrying about a game that had just happened and he was tired of wondering how his entire life had been tipped upside down within seconds, but most of all he was tired of wondering how _she_ had managed to make him lose complete control of his life. He supposed that it had been good in a way; Chad had _finally_ found a girl that actually treated him like a human being, not a basketball God, Zeke had _finally_ asked out Sharpay and gotten her off his back and they had _finally_ gotten Ryan to look like a normal teenage boy instead of a sparkly, gay, man. That had all happened because she had showed up and helped him turn the entire school upside down. Troy sighed as he sat down and put his head in his hands.

Those were the _good_ things. Hypothetically, nothing bad had happened. Everything had turned out perfectly for once. He'd won, she'd won, _they'd_ won. Yet, Troy couldn't help but feel like his entire life had slipped out of his control and maybe, just maybe, he resented her slightly for it. He was so used to being in complete control; his entire life had always been black and white. Nothing more and nothing less. To some people that may have been boring, even a little strange, but to Troy it had been perfect. There had been a little colour splashed here and there, girls he had dated, his sister being born, _basketball_. Sure sometimes the monotony got to him, but then something would happen, like the championship or watching Chad attempt to use a glue-gun and it reminded him that life was full of surprises. He understood it, he had control over it.

And then she had burst into his life. And being up on the stage with her had showed him a totally different world, one full of colour and surprises. And he had wanted more. At first he hadn't noticed the control slipping away, he'd been too caught up in everything that had happened over the past two weeks. Then, suddenly, it had hit him the night he had apologized to her. Because no girl, colorful or not, had ever got to him so badly that everything about his life had seemed completely screwed up, because she wasn't talking to him, no girl had ever messed up his basketball, no girl had ever made him feel the way she had because she refused to so much as look at him. As he had hugged her goodnight the night before he'd suddenly realized that she had gained control of his life. Whether she knew it or not, everything he seemed to do was because she had wanted him to do it. She'd wanted him to play, and he had. She'd wanted him to sing, so he did. She'd wanted–

"Hey." Her quiet voice broke through his thoughts and Troy jumped and his eyes snapped to meet hers.

"Hey." He said just as softly and Gabriella smiled at him nervously. Troy leaned back and studied her for a moment. Her face was flushed with excitement, her eyes were sparkling and her dark curls swayed as she folded her arms. The gentle breeze ruffled her skirt and the dress made a soft whispering sound.

"Why aren't you down there?" Gabriella asked and Troy's eyes traveled up to meet hers again.

"Because I'm not." He replied and she frowned at him slightly. He knew that wasn't the answer she'd been expecting.

"Everyone's looking for you." she told him and Troy shrugged.

"So?" he asked and this time Gabriella frowned fully. Troy ignored it and instead looked over her shoulder at the sky.

"Don't you want to be down there celebrating?" she asked, stepping closer to him. Troy shifted slightly, looking at the ground as he heard the leaves rustle.

"No." he muttered and Gabriella took another step towards him. He knew she was wondering why he was being short with her, if anything he'd always been a bit rambling around her.

"Why not?" she asked quietly.

"Because I don't." Troy snapped and tried to ignore the look of hurt that flashed across her face. Gabriella took another step towards him and Troy saw the tips of her feet.

"What'd I do Troy?" Gabriella asked wanting so badly to run her hand through his hair and get him to look at her. Troy suddenly stood up and Gabriella took a small, involuntary step back.

"What'd you do? What'd you do Gabriella? I'll tell you what you did! You appeared! On vacation, I thought that I'd never see you again and that would be then end of it and then suddenly you show up here!" Troy said forcefully and watched as Gabriella's eyes filled with tears and she moved away from him. He didn't let her tears stop him, because he knew that if he didn't tell her he would regret it.

"Fine. I'll leave." Gabriella muttered after a moment's silence, she turned to leave and Troy grabbed her arm spinning her to face him. She gasped as she felt his fingers dig into her arms, but was too immobilized to pull away.

"Don't you get it? Gabriella, because of you I've lost complete control of my life. When I got up on stage on New Year's I had no idea what I was doing. But I was in control and then I heard you sing and suddenly I saw something different, my life has always been black and white and then I heard you sing. God, Gabriella, I saw _colour _when I heard you sing! I saw things that I never knew existed! I saw a totally different life! Because of you!" Troy nearly shouted, shaking her slightly. Gabriella wanted to say something, _anything_ that could match what he'd just said. No-one had ever said anything like that to her before, no-one had ever told her something so……beautiful.

"And then you show up here and my life, which had gone back to black and white, was suddenly full of colour, because you laughed, because you smiled at me. And then you had me acting strangely. When you wouldn't talk to me, I felt like I was living in black. When you didn't smile at me, it felt like there was no point being here. No-one, _no-one_, has ever done that to me! No-one has ever made me lose complete control over my actions! Everything I've done over the past weeks, I've done because you wanted me to! You turned my world upside down! You made me lose control over my own life! That's what you did!" Troy yelled, frustrated he let her go and sank back down onto the bench. His head in his hands again, breathing heavily.

Gabriella trembled as she stared at Troy. She couldn't believe that she'd had that impact on him. She couldn't believe that anything he'd said had just come tumbling out of his mouth. Because no-one had ever said anything so meaningful to her, no-one had ever told her what she did to them.

Troy was shaking as he became fully aware of what he had done. He'd shouted at her, he'd most probably hurt her and he'd just managed to lose the best thing that had ever happened to him. '_You idiot Troy, now she'll never want anything to do with you_' he thought bitterly. He squeezed his eyes shut and then they shot open as he felt her hand run through his hair. His head snapped up and he stared at her in amazement. The look on Gabriella's face was full of love and contentment. Something Troy had never seen before. Slowly he stood up as she ran her hand down to his cheek and let it rest there.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe my life was black and white and then suddenly you burst into it? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe everything I've done, I did for you?" Gabriella asked him quietly as he tentatively touched her neck. Troy stared at her in astonishment.

"So……we're on the same boat?" he asked quietly as she moved closer to him. His hand slipped down to encircle her waist as Gabriella's hands slid behind his neck. She nodded and Troy relaxed.

"Yes Troy, we are." She whispered and Troy suddenly leaned down and captured her lips in a brief kiss.

"I've got no control anymore Gabriella." He said pulling back and resting his forehead on hers.

"Neither do I." She whispered and raised her face to his, begging him to kiss her again. Troy found himself surrendering to her and suddenly realized that out of all people, he was glad that Gabriella was the one who had control over him.

**A/N: Ta da! Okay, as I said, new chapter to 'Out Of My Element' on its way! So look out for that!**


End file.
